Back Again?
by fallingstarsx
Summary: Fixed it. LITERATI How will Rory feel when Jess comes back to town? How will Jess feel coming back to town? Reunions at airports & a lot of chili fries and coffee.
1. he misses her so

(ick sorry about the mixup)

**Back Again?**

Blue eyes were the first thing he'd noticed about her. Of course, her intelligence soon followed; matching his wit (though not his sarcasm), she'd captured his attention and hadn't let go yet. Right. But we weren't talking about Rory Gilmore's blue eyes. We were talking about the blue eyes of his girlfriend, who was seated on the counter in front of him. She was giggling, and he was standing, arms around her waist.

Jess Mariano smirked, because thats what he did best. This girl reminded him of the one back in Stars Hallow, the one that Rory detested (maybe because she liked Jess .. then, at least). Absolutely no intelligence, boring, but a damn good kisser.

Some random lyrics ran through his mind as he lowered his lips to the blonde's - 'and I will forget you .. at least I'll try', which was precisely what he'd promised (silently, of course) the brunette after he'd asked her to come here with him (she politely declined). And he had tried, really - but he couldn't forget her. She was too .. I don't know. He'd never find another girl like Rory, that was all he knew.

xx

The very girl on Jess' mind was lounging on a porch swing in front of her house, Pride and Prejudice by Jane Austen open in her lap, about halfway through. The sun was shining brilliantly, since it was summer, and everything was going great for the twenty-two year old. There'd been a few boys after Jess - never again Dean, who she'd slept with once (and felt tremendously guilty, and found herself avoiding Lindsey all the time now), but there was nobody now. And guys were the last thing on her mind.

No, thats not true. Reading a book like this how could she not be thinking about guys? A sigh escaped the lips of Rory. Rory, who had refused to go with Jess though she loved him (still did, always would). She couldn't give up Yale for him. Oh, yeah - Yale. She'd graduated and whatnot, and now .. she was back at home with her beloved mother and her mom's new husband, Luke Danes.

The very man who'd called Jess, his nephew.

xx

He reached over the blonde to answer the phone, sounding vaguely upset that they'd interrupted their little make-out session.

"Hello?" definite annoyance.

"Jess! Don't sound too thrilled." came the sarcastic reply from his uncle.

"Uncle Luke! Great of you to call." Laced with sarcasm as well.

"Listen - straight to the point. Lorelai and me are going out of town, we need you to run the diner"

Jess ignored his grammar mistake (Lorelai and me, Lorelai and I), answering instead. "Couldn't you get your precious Lorelai Jr. to do it?" He obviously meant Rory.

Luke rolled his eyes, though Jess couldn't see it. "I sent you a plane ticket - I expect you Monday."

"Does Rory know?"

"Bye, Jess."

"Luke."

.. Click.

He left Jess standing with the phone to his ear, a mixed expression of annoyance, relief and .. well, eagerness to leave and see Rory once more.

**A/N**: Review, be brutal, yeah.


	2. and he's nervous, so nervous

**Back Again?**

He left Jess standing with the phone to his ear, a mixed expression of annoyance, relief and .. well, eagerness to leave and see Rory once more.

Apparently he'd stood there with the phone to his ear, sounding the tone, for quite awhile because he got a sharp gaze from the girl on the counter. "Jess?" She eyed him with a mix of curiosity and annoyance, folding her arms over her chest expectantly. For some reason, that made him so mad. "Who was it?" she asked when he made no move to answer, or even look at her.

He turned his gaze to her then, pulling the phone from his ear and placing it in the reciever. "My uncle." he said, arching a brow. "I did say that while talking to him." he added, in a 'don't you /listen?' tone of voice. She wrinkled her nose slightly, opened her mouth to reply, and he shook his head. "I have to go back when the weekend's up." he said and she closed her mouth, paused, then blinked. ".. Oh." she shrugged.

Not like she meant anything to him. Or vice versa. He liked the noncommital flings, even if they /were/ absolutely .. well, stupid. He realized he was drifting off again by the time he was thinking about he and Rory's mindless bantering, and quickly came back to attention. "Then I guess we don't have much time." he said, eyeing her carefully. She nodded. "So c'mere." she said and grabbed his hand, pulling him to her. And then they were kissing again.

xx

She bit her lip anxiously, half-glaring at her mother. "It's only for two weeks, babe." Lorelai reminded her daughter helplessly, shrugging. She tapped her fake nails against the counter, watching for expression and waiting for an answer.

Rory, however, had nothing more to say. Until a second later when she shrugged. "I can't believe you /agreed/ to this. You hate him as much as I do." she said, wrinkling her nose unattractively, shoving her brown locks aside. She leaned back in her chair, tilting her head back and closing her eyes.

All around them was bustling; they were in Luke's Diner for a nice little lunch, where Lorelai sprung the news on Rory.

"He probably won't even talk to you." Lorelai said, arms folding across her chest. And then the whiny Lorelai face came on and she pouted. "Now can't we /go? I'm bored." she said, staring down at the plate that had held chili fries moments before and the cup that didn't even have a drop of coffee left (and Rory did the same - healthy meals those two ate) before aiming the pout at Rory.

Rory, who wasn't looking before, was looking now. She relentlessly shook her head. "Mo-om." she moaned, as daughters tended to do, running both hands through her hair. She was, if nothing else, exasperated. "I can't belive Jess Mariano was your first choice to run the diner." she said.

"No, no." Lorelai said, shaking her head now. "It was /Luke's/ idea. He really likes the kid. Now we're sitting here arguing over someone you can ignore anyway with empty plates in front of us - what does that tell you?"

"We should order more food?" Rory said innocently. "Either that or we can stop the bickering by you telling Jess to stay where he is." And yet ..

xx

The flight to Stars Hollow had been annoyingly long and tiring. He was seated by a screaming squirming six year old, and he'd hardly gotten any reading done. Ironically, he'd tried to read Pride and Prejudice (which was what Rory was reading, again, at that moment). He wished .. he was back at home in New York, snuggled under the covers, half asleep but here he was. On his way to goddamn Stars Hollow again to work the diner as if he was still seventeen.

"Uncle" Luke (the thought alone brought a smirk to his lips) was going to get an earful for forcing him to come down. He hated the diner, he hated Luke, he didn't want to see Rory again (that he had decided approximately an hour after he got on the plane) and he definitely didn't want to sleep in the same house as her. But now there he was, anxiously awaiting the scruffy man in the backwards cap's arrival. He was tapping his foot, clad in black combat boots, against the dirty tile impatiently, arms folded over his chest.

He was the same old Jess, a paperback book shoved into the back pocket of tight jeans and a leather jacket keeping him warm. He hadn't grown up in the time that he'd been away from Rory - he was still wondering why she wouldn't pick up and leave for him. Well, actually, he'd come to the conclusion that she didn't love him, but that .. was fine. Whatever.

xx

Rory was, for lack of a better word, distressed. She'd torn her closet apart in search of the right "old-Rory-meets-new-Rory" outfit to go with Luke to pick Jess up and she still hadn't come up with anything. Until she raided her mother's closet, coming up with a black skirt that fell just short of her knees and a fitted black and white polka-dotted spaghetti strap shirt. It would be even better if it wasn't cold, but that was the last thing on her mind.

"Rory! Would you hurry?" sounded Luke's impatient voice.

"Sorry, Luke!" she called back apologetically, then applied just one more coat of lipgloss .. then she was good to go. She turned. Wait, no. She turned again and glanced at her shoulder-length hair, smoothing it. There. She ran downstairs, slipping on black flip-flops at the door.

"Aren't you going to be cold?" Luke asked, eyeing her apprehensively, but she hadn't heard him. After all, she was already out the door.

**A/N**: Again, read, review, be brutal .. I'd appreciate honesty.


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